Are you tired of spending a fortune on airfare? Good news! Travel hacking is the answer to all your travel woes. It’s an exciting way to convert credit card sign-up bonuses and incentives into miles that can then be used to score discounted or complimentary flights for your ideal destinations. With a bit of imagination and some information, you’ll fly for no cost in no time.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is the art of trading credit card sign-up bonuses and rewards for airline miles. These miles can later be used to purchase cheap or free flight tickets. Some credit cards also let you redeem miles towards hotel stays or car rental offers.
How Does it Work?
The secret to successful travel hacking is to take advantage of credit card sign-up bonuses and building out a frequent flyer mile program on a select group of airlines. When you are ready to book a flight consider the cost. If the cost is less than $300, it’s generally better to pay cash and use your miles to pay to take a more costly flight. If the prices start to rise over $500, you’ll need to check the frequent flyer account and find out which airline will give you the best deal. It all boils down to the amount of points or miles in your travel account for each airline.
Get Started with Travel Hacking
Are you interested in learning the secrets of travel hacking? The first step is to open a credit card with a sign-up bonus. There are plenty of great credit cards that offer various benefits and features. It is all dependent on the airline, your habits with spending and the features that are most crucial to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are some credit cards that are great to hack travel
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Chase United Explorer
- JetBlue Mastercard
- Capital One Venture X
After you’ve been accepted for a credit or debit card, you’ll need to reach the limit of spending minimum in order to get the bonus. Each card has its own rules, so be certain to verify the details. Then it’s all about building up miles and using them to book your dream trip!
Are you ready to go on a jet-setting with your points?
After you’ve accrued your points balance, it’s time to use them towards sweet getaway! Different credit card providers will have different methods of redeeming your points. Here are some examples from some of the ones I’ve worked with:
Getaway with Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you have a Chase credit card, then you can redeem your points through the Ultimate Rewards portal. In this portal you’ll have access to nearly every airline, and you can make use of a combination of money and points to book your travel. You can even book completely with points if you’ve the balance for it! Sometimes even if you don’t be able to accumulate enough points in order to pay for total price, you can book flights using the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance in cash using every credit card.
United
Are you tired of paying full price for your flights? Did you realize that when booking directly through United You have the option to pay with dollars or points? Be careful, if you don’t have enough points, you aren’t able to combine dollars and points on one flight. No worries though, if you’re a few points away, United gives you the option to purchase additional miles.
JetBlue
Looking for a domestic flight? Take a look at JetBlue! JetBlue offers a comfortable and enjoyable travel experience that includes extra legroom and free snacks. Additionally, their booking process is similar to that of United Airlines, allowing customers to book using either JetBlue either dollars or points however, not both. However, JetBlue is unique in that they offer a feature where you can join your points with your family members and earn points twice as quickly. Be sure to establish that you’re a real family member prior to trying to hack into the system.
Reach that Minimum Spend
If you’re anything like me and my travel buddy Becca You’re probably quite frugal and it can be daunting to try to spend thousands of dollars to hit the minimum amount required to earn a credit card bonus. Don’t worry because we’ve been there and are here to share our tricks and tips.
Pay your rent (if you can)
This is an important one! If you’re able pay your rent using a credit card, do it! Be prepared to pay a fee, usually about 3 percent. It might be worth it over the long term in the event that the bonus is substantial enough.
Pay a medical bill
Another way to reach the required spending is to pay for the medical bills. If you do not have any medical expenses in the near future, ask your family members if you can pay for theirs and they will pay you back.
Repay a loan
If you have any loans take into consideration paying them off with your credit card. Make sure to pay the credit card balance completely so that you don’t accumulate more debt.
Ask family for help
Discuss your family with them and determine if they’ve got any major expenses in the near future that you can help pay for. Make sure that you are able to trust the person and they are aware of the reason for doing it.
Purchase presents
If it’s the holiday season take into consideration buying all your gifts using the credit card you have. So you’ll be able to hit that minimum spend and also be prepared for giving gifts. Make sure that you’re not spending more than you already thinking of.
There are a lot of ways to get the most from the travel credit card. You can earn miles or points to be used towards airfares or other travel-related costs. Here are a few more ideas for maximizing your rewards
Pay for travel expenses using your credit card
If you’re planning a trip, make use of you travel credit card for booking your flight, hotel, rental car, and any other travel-related expenses. You’ll not only be able to hit the minimum amount of spending required to earn your credit card reward, but you’ll also earn points or miles to cover these costs.
Utilize your credit card to pay for everyday expenses
Another way to hit the minimum spend to earn rewards is making use of your credit card to pay everyday costs. This could include items like groceries, gas or even your phone bill. Make sure you pay off the balance each month in full so you don’t pay interest.
Take advantage of bonus categories
Many travel credit cards offer miles or points in exchange for specific types of purchases, like eating out or traveling. Make sure you review the rewards program of your credit card and avail the bonus categories that are in line with your spending habits.
Think about the possibility of transferring your balance
If you’re in the middle of a debt on a credit card, you might want to transfer that balance to the travel credit card which has a 0% introductory APR for balance transfer. This will allow you to pay off the debt without accruing interest. It will also aid in achieving the minimum spending requirement for the credit card’s bonus.
Make use of your miles or points prudently
When you’ve earned a significant amount of points or miles make sure you use the points or miles wisely. Examine the rewards program of your credit card and compare the worth of various redemption options. For instance using points to purchase a flight directly with the airline could provide you with a greater value than using them to purchase the purchase of a gift card.
Another tip is to use rewards cards that allow you to transfer reward points into other loyalty programmes. This will let you have a wider range of options and greater flexibility when making use of your rewards. For instance, you might be eligible to transfer your rewards to frequent flyer programs of airlines or hotel rewards program. This will give you access to a larger variety of hotels, flights and other travel benefits which are not available through the rewards program of your credit card.
Additionally, try to find out whether your credit card has certain benefits that will help you save money on travel costs. A lot of credit cards provide travel insurance as well as rental car insurance baggage protection, and other benefits that could be very beneficial when traveling.
Finally, when you’re traveling with a friend and both of you earn rewards using your own credit card. Just remember that you can’t split the cost on the same card and make sure to track your rewards separately.
In the end, the most important thing to do to maximizing your rewards for travel is to be aware of the rewards program on your credit card and ensure that you’re making use of this program in the most efficient way possible. Utilizing all of the methods I’ve described that you can earn rewards fast, exchange them for valuable travel experiences and take advantage of a broad variety of travel benefits.